The National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) recognized significant achievements in environmental excellence at the 2017 Conference. Through nominations received and reviewed by an NAEP national committee, selected recipients were recognized for their noteworthy accomplishments in Environmental Management, Public Involvement, Conservation Programs, Environmental Education, Planning, Stewardship, and Best Available Technologies, as well as The President’s Award.

Description of Project:For decades, the Chesapeake Bay’s health languished as the surrounding jurisdictions failed to control the pollution fouling its waters. Recognizing that any effective cleanup plan would require federal oversight, in 2009 CBF and partners sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The innovative lawsuit alleged that EPA had violated the Clean Water Act by allowing the Bay’s health to deteriorate. The resulting settlement created the largest water pollution reduction plan in our Nation’s history: the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint. The Blueprint sets science-based pollution limits for each state, timelines for implementation, and federal oversight.

Almost immediately after the Blueprint was created, the American Farm Bureau Federation challenged the plan in federal court. CBF intervened, defending the Blueprint in District and Circuit Courts. In 2016, the Supreme Court refused to hear the Farm Bureau’s final appeal, ratifying the Blueprint and concluding the five-year legal battle. Today, scientists credit the Blueprint with improving water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, reducing its “dead zone” and helping fishery populations to rebound. Once fully implemented, the Blueprint will remove the Chesapeake Bay from the federal “impaired” waters list and improve the quality of life of the 18 million people who live within the Bay watershed.

Description of Project:In the fall of 2004, Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne completely destroyed the City of Fort Pierce marina. The City retained Tetra Tech to handle the design and permitting of the reconstruction and expansion of the Marina, as well as temporary facilities to protect the interior marina while the outer marina and its associated wave protection components were constructed. Tetra Tech designed an island breakwater system to provide wave and current protection. The protection system includes an artificial island complex that serves as a first line breakwater system and includes mangrove plantings, oyster reefs, tidal lagoon features and an artificial reef area. The design of the islands incorporated hydrodynamic modeling, field data collection and sampling, turbidity modeling, and a scaled physical model to ensure the island design would withstand a 100 year storm. The development and approval of this project required close coordination with FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Tetra Tech was also responsible for the construction management portion of the project including engineering inspections, water quality monitoring, manatee observation, construction of the mitigation components, annual seagrass and bathymetry mapping within the project footprint and all regulatory required monitoring.

Description of Project:The Integrated Planning Vision process was a multi-faceted, comprehensive approach to the Port of San Diego’s future. The process involved a high-profile effort through facilitation of a robust engagement process with the goal of capturing a balanced view of all baywide interests. The outcome was the Board of Port Commissioner’s acceptance of the Vision Statement, Guiding Principles and Assessment Report in August 2014, and the Framework Report in November 2015. These two documents collectively form the Port of San Diego Integrated Planning Vision.

The resulting Integrated Planning Vision represents a culmination of an open and meaningful civic engagement process. The process was unique in its comprehensive and inclusive approach to public outreach involving a broad spectrum of stakeholders including government agencies, organizations, long-standing waterfront stakeholders, and many first-time participants. It is reflective of an approach that is holistic and comprehensive, that describes the need to incorporate input from adjacent jurisdictions and interested stakeholders, environmental concerns, and economic analysis into planning decisions made by the Port of San Diego.

The Integrated Planning Vision laid the foundation for the comprehensive update to the Port Master Plan, currently underway, which will set the type and characteristics of development, recreation, and conservation for tidelands around San Diego Bay into the second half of the 21st century.

Description of Project:As part of the Seward Highway Milepost 75-90 Road and Bridge Rehabilitation project for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, HDR developed a custom iPad application (app), integrated with GPS and GIS, to identify, record, and ultimately protect endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales during in-water drilling. Geotechnical sampling was conducted at eight bridges slated for replacement within critical habitat. Because beluga whales are sensitive to noise and are known to swim up the rivers where drilling was occurring, monitoring their movements and shutting down operations as they approached was necessary to avoid exposing them to noise.

To enhance efficiency and reliability, the app integrates aerial photography, GIS layers depicting harassment-protection zones, drilling sites, and a database entry form for observation metrics. Using the GPS location of protected species observers from the iPad, combined with the range and bearing of approaching whales input by the observers, the app automatically calculates the whale’s location overlaid with project mapping in real time. This allowed observers to monitor an animal’s location relative to in-water drilling sites and harassment-protection zones, and shut down drilling operations before the whales entered an area with elevated noise levels, thereby avoiding disturbance or injury to the whales.

Description of Project: Orange County began acquiring Environmental Sensitive Lands (ESL) in the mid 90’s and has preserved over 22,000 acres. To leverage funding for the acquisition of ESL lands Orange County Green PLACE (Park Land Acquisition for Conservation and Environmental Protection) program has developed innovative methods and partnerships. The Green PLACE program has partnered with the development community to acquire environmentally sensitive lands to close the gaps in an existing ecological corridor that have been preserved both publicly and privately. This partnership between Orange County and the development community has allowed the county to continue to acquire environmentally sensitive lands by accepting the donation of parcels within identified acquisition corridors while allowing the development community to utilize the properties to offset wetland impacts on other projects.

Additionally, in order to promote the Green PLACE program;Orange County entered into a partnership with the Back to Nature Wildlife Refuge on its Eagles Roost property. This partnership benefits the county by increasing visitor usage to the property and Back to Nature aids in educating the public about the other Green PLACE lands that are open for public passive use and the native fauna that inhabits the region.

Description of Project:The year 2016 marked the centennial of the Convention between the United States and Great Britain (for Canada) for the Protection of Migratory Birds. This Treaty formed the cornerstones of international cooperation to conserve birds that migrate across borders. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with campaign management and coordination support from Marstel-Day, LLC, launched a national awareness and education campaign to leverage the Migratory Bird Treaty Centennial in galvanizing efforts to protect migratory birds. This campaign involved a suite of coordinated engagement and outreach, traditional communication, and social media strategies to engage nations, public agencies, NGOs, businesses, and citizens to take action for birds. Campaign successes included: directly engaged more than half a million citizens and 300+ partners in 350 activities; involved nearly 30,000 youth in bird conservation and educational activities; extended our outreach with 100+ media articles; reached millions of people online with compelling graphics and educational social media content; ensured continued international commitment highlighted at meetings among President Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, and Mexican President Peña Nieto; and launched the next 100 years of bird conservation at an embassy event in Washington, DC, with the ambitious goal of extending international cooperation to the entire western hemisphere.

Description of Project:Supporting the livelihoods of more than 20 million people and known for its high biodiversity, the Mekong River Delta of Viet Nam and the associated floodplains of Cambodia, form the most productive agriculture and aquaculture region for these two countries. HDR’s team partnered with DHI of Denmark to prepare a comprehensive environmental assessment of 11 proposed hydropower projects along the river. The study concluded that construction and operation of the hydropower facilities could cause long-lasting damage to the floodplains and aquatic life. This would substantially reduce the fish population and biodiversity, negatively impacting millions of residents as well as the local economy. Because multiple countries share the Mekong River resources — including Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos — the findings of this report hold international significance.

Description of Project:The Installation Complex Encroachment Management Action Plan (ICEMAP) for Mountain Home Air Force Base (MHAFB) provided a comprehensive plan to manage encroachment challenges and their associated impacts to the installation’s mission. Findings of water availability and sustainability challenges highlighted the need to identify current and future threats to the installation’s water sources and supplies. The development of a Water Resources Management and Sustainment Plan (WRMSP) provided a near-term and long-term set of recommendations to address water scarcity, increase resiliency, and preserve the mission. The Air Force Community Partnership (AFCP) Program process leveraged intergovernmental capabilities and resources to reduce operating and service costs in support of the AF mission. The AFCP process at MHAFB is unique in that it also provided an opportunity to address the White House’s objective of climate preparedness planning. DOD designated MHAFB as one of three locations to conduct a Climate Preparedness Planning Pilot to compile regionally pertinent climate data and information and establish a regional intergovernmental planning process that identifies shared vulnerabilities, development plans, and a roadmap for identifying adaptations that reduce risk and enhance resilience. Integrating the ICEMAP, WRMSP, and the AFCP process was fundamental to the project’s success in having a thorough understanding of how to manage water needs to ensure sustainment of MHAFB mission operations.